And that was also his opportunity.
"Damn it."
Seeing that Furina still showed no movement, Jiraiya could not help but curse inwardly. But Orochimaru's relentless attacks left him no room to be distracted. He had to focus completely on responding.
As the center of attention between Orochimaru and Jiraiya, what was she thinking? It might overlap somewhat with Orochimaru's thoughts, but it was not the same.
Orochimaru would see it as confidence in herself, while for Furina, it was because she had seen the plot and knew Naruto alone was enough to handle Kabuto. At most, she would step in at the very end to prevent Naruto from falling into mortal danger.
Moreover, because of her presence, the stimulated Naruto would only be stronger than in the original story at this point. By the end, it was not even certain whether she would need to intervene.
"Lady Tsunade, I also know a bit about medical ninjutsu. Let me help you recover from your injuries."
"Since you know who I am, do you really think I need you to heal me? I know my own condition perfectly well. You should hurry over and help Naruto beat that glasses guy."
Watching Furina walk over intending to treat her, even while still affected by hemophobia, Tsunade showed no weakness. She was the number one medical ninja in the ninja world. Did she really need help from a newbie? What a joke.
"No can do, Lady Tsunade. Naruto just said he wanted to handle him alone. And you should have some faith in Naruto. For the sake of your bet, he's been training really hard this whole time.
In my opinion, he already has the ability to fight Kabuto. And if anything really goes wrong, I'll step in. So just relax."
"Hmph." Although Furina spoke with great righteousness, Tsunade clearly did not buy it. She turned her head away and no longer looked at her, showing her attitude through actions.
"Since Lady Tsunade is unwilling, I won't show off my inadequate skills then. Actually, I have a question I'd like to ask you. What did you mean by 'Second Grandpa' when I first arrived? I've been thinking about it since then and still don't understand."
"!" Tsunade had originally planned to see what problem this stubborn little brat could come up with, then decide whether to graciously answer. But she never expected to hear this, which left her completely stunned.
"Ahem, what 'Second Grandpa'? You must have misheard. Speaking of which, I do feel a bit off right now. You should go ahead and heal me. I can even give you some pointers along the way."
Damn it, how did she actually hear it? If she really found out that she had called her "Second Grandpa"... that scene was too horrifying. Tsunade did not even dare think about it.
Wait, could Furina actually be a descendant of Second Grandpa? The same specialty in Water Release, same hair color, and the Senju clan's massive chakra reserves. The more she thought about it, the stranger Tsunade's gaze toward Furina became.
Of course, Furina had no idea Tsunade's imagination was running this wild. Even if she knew, she would not care. This identity held no disadvantage for her anyway. Misunderstand however you like.
"Are you really just a beginner who learned recently?"
But Tsunade's speculation about Furina's identity was quickly cut short. As the treatment progressed, she discovered that the other's skill level was somewhat... ridiculous? Was this really a beginner?
"Yes, I learned it during the Chunin Exams not long ago. I'm still not very proficient. If there are any shortcomings, please point them out, Lady Tsunade."
The surprise in Tsunade's eyes naturally did not escape Furina's notice, but she chose to pretend she did not see it. Then she put on an innocent, eager-to-learn expression, truly Versailles to the extreme.
"Your mastery is quite good. It's only a little worse than mine back in the day. Let me tell you some areas for improvement. For example..."
In front of a junior, Tsunade naturally could not let the other keep showing off. She immediately began giving pointers based on her years of experience. As for who was actually stronger between her younger self and Furina, only she knew.
"Rasengan!"
"Boom!"
After Tsunade had given some on-the-spot instruction, the situation on the field shifted. Not Jiraiya and Orochimaru, but Naruto and Kabuto. The massive explosion just now had been caused by the Rasengan.
Because he had to stay alert for a possible sneak attack from Furina, and because Kabuto himself somewhat underestimated Naruto, while Naruto happened to excel in combat, with all these factors combined...
Kabuto really was caught off guard by Naruto and took a direct hit from the Rasengan. The tremendous power sent him flying backward rapidly until he crashed into a rock and stopped.
"Heh."
After Kabuto was sent flying by Naruto, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who had been fighting in the distance, tacitly paused. Looking at the large cloud of dust kicked up, Orochimaru's expression could not help but turn ugly.
He had originally planned to hold off Jiraiya himself while Kabuto first defeated the weaker Naruto and Shizune, then took down Furina. The idea had a chance of succeeding, but it seemed the very first step had already failed.
After confirming Kabuto had been hit by the Rasengan, Naruto raised his fist toward Tsunade's direction, then finally lay on the ground as if a heavy burden had been lifted. The high-intensity fight just now had already pushed him to his limit.
Tsunade naturally understood what he meant and nodded toward him. Although it was unbelievable, he had indeed won the bet.
"Eternal little sister..." Looking at Naruto lying on the ground, Tsunade suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. Past scenes flashed through her eyes. His Rasengan made her hallucinate another person - brilliantly talented and peerless.
"Lady Tsunade, what did you just say?"
Furina had naturally heard exactly what she said, but with her mischievous side kicking in, she still pretended to be clueless, preparing to see how the other would explain it this time.
"This... I, wait a second, Naruto, be careful!"
"Ahem..."
Before Tsunade could explain, Kabuto's figure emerged from the gradually dispersing dust. Unexpectedly, even after taking a direct Rasengan, he seemed to still have fighting capability and was slowly approaching the prone Naruto.
"Damn it. Even if you can still stand, I'll definitely defeat you again."
Naruto naturally noticed Kabuto approaching and struggled to try getting up, but after several attempts, he could not manage it. In the previous battle, he had already burned everything he had.
"Heh." After getting a bit closer to Naruto, Kabuto suddenly accelerated dramatically. Clearly, his earlier slow pace had just been to make the others lower their guard.
But though his speed was fast, Furina was no slower. Just as Kabuto was about to take Naruto hostage, several kunai had already arrived in front of him. Seeing this, Kabuto could only withdraw his hand to dodge.